New debt by Russian firms subject to US sanctions not eligible for key bond indexes-JPMorgan

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Any new debt issued by the
Russian companies subject to latest U.S. sanctions will not be
eligible for inclusion in JPMorgan's bond indexes, the most
widely used emerging debt indexes, the bank said.

"As a result of the latest U.S. Treasury sanctions, new debt
issued by Gazprombank, Novatek, Rosneft
and VEB (Vneskekonombank) will not be eligible for
inclusion into the JPMorgan suite of indices due to investors'
inability to replicate the benchmark," JPM said in a note late
on Thursday.

Oil firm TNK-BP, not named officially in the
sanctions but 90 percent owned by state oil major Rosneft, will
also be subject to the restriction, JPM said.

However, existing debt of these companies will not be
affected, the bank said, adding that sanctions imposed to date
had not affected its indexes.

The United States on Wednesday slapped its harshest
sanctions to date on Russian companies in response to what it
sees as the Kremlin's role in the Ukraine crisis, prohibiting
dealing in new debt issued by these four firms.

JPMorgan said state-run Vneshekonombank had a 0.55 percent
weight in its EMBIG Diversified index of sovereign dollar debt
while Gazprombank, Novatek and Rosneft, along with its
subsidiary TNK-BP, have a combined 0.76 percent share in the
CEMBI Broad Diversified index of corporate EM bonds.

Benchmarked assets under management to the EMBIG and CEMBI
series total $313 billion and $66.3 billion respectively.
(Reporting by Sujata Rao; Editing by Susan Fenton)